


Apologies Tomorrow ('I Love You's Today)

by poetsandzombies



Category: Marvel
Genre: Fluff, Romance, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-12 20:59:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3355085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poetsandzombies/pseuds/poetsandzombies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony tries to tell Steve he loves him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Apologies Tomorrow ('I Love You's Today)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tacuma](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tacuma/gifts).



> sorry it's kind of messy and jumbled, I was kind of in a rush to finish it in time!

Tony looked around at the neat little mess he'd made of the the rose petals scattered on the bed, the champagne, and the 50+ candles that lit up the room like a night sky, feeling his stomach drop with regret. What had he done? 

He  _knew_ , Steve had said that he didn't want to see him. He'd  _asked_ Tony to just give him time, and Tony... god, what was he thinking? What was he expecting? Some kind of running into each other's arms moment? A happy ending despite all the knots in the strings that bound them? It was never that way with the two. Tony must have been out of his mind to think Steve would even forgive him.

And besides, even if they were on good terms, all of this... the flowers, the romance... it wasn't okay. He was only humiliating himself further.

So now what? Tony tried to think as panic rose in his throat. There wasn't time to clean up what he'd done and, seeing no point in trying, made for the door. 

He felt the knob turn in his hand before he could even grasp it, the door swinging open to reveal an exhausted, but composed Steve.

The knots in Tony's stomach twisted as he watched Steve's face flash from confusion, to anger, to resignation. After a moment of silence and awkward staring he sighed, bowing his head.

"Tony." He said, voice strained. Tony raised his hands in defense.

"Hey, I know, okay? I know. I'm sorry, I don't know what I was thinking. I'm leaving now," he tried to shove past Steve's unmoving body, but it was too late. Steve was looking over his shoulder at the extravaganza Tony had made of his room, face twisted in confusion. He let the door he was holding on to open all the way, moving Tony aside and teetering into the room, shoulders slumped. 

"Tony," He repeated, this time quiet and shaky. Tony was hot, his entire face heating up as he saw the almost horror in Steve’s eyes.

“I thought maybe, since it was Valentine's Day,” He blurted, finding his voice again. “The most romantic day of the year, confessing your undying love and all that would be- are you okay?"

Steve had sunken down into the edge of his bed, taking a look around his room before returning his gaze to Tony, who was watching him carefully, on edge.

"You never said..." Steve started, brows furrowing as he tried to think. He looked...

_Hurt_. Honestly hurt, and Tony didn't understand that. 

He'd fucked up so many times in his life, hurt people countless times, including the man he was standing in front of. But this? Despite the regret and embarrassment, this was the  _one good thing_ he had. The one thing he knew he couldn't hurt Steve with. 

Or he thought. He'd expected anger, not...not this.

"Look, Steve," he said, reaching his hands out as if to hold the room together on will alone.

"How long have we known each other?" Steve asked suddenly, looking up from the floor to Tony again. Tony paused, surprised, before replying

"Ten years." Steve nodded to himself, quiet for a moment.

"And of those ten years, how long have you, um,"

"Ten," Tony answered before he could finish. The other man closed his eyes, lips quirking to the side ever so slightly. Another moment of silence stretched out over the room, sending nervous chills down Tony's spine before Steve finally spoke again.

"Seven." He said. Tony pouted.

"What?"

Steve coughed, standing up and offering his hand to Tony, who could only stare at it, dumbfounded. When he didn't make a move to take it, Steve reached out and took his, pulling him closer.

"It was one of those skrulls missions. Is this okay?" He asked. Tony hadn't noticed the hand curling around his waist, or the way his toes began to nudge against Steve's, but he nodded stiffly, letting his hands reach out to touch Steve, resting one over the arm holding onto him, the other slipping into his raised hand and when Steve started to move, Tony did too. Nothing ridiculous, just a soft back-and-forth swaying, but the warmth in it made Tony feel like he might collapse.

"I wish I could say it was one of your moments of sacrifice," Steve continued, "or a charitable offer of some sort, but it wasn't. It was just a small smile and a pat on the back, confident enough as if you knew the battle was over before it really was. It could have easily been another throw away moment, just one of the thousands of things that makes you Tony Stark, but it ended up being the moment I realized I was in love with you. So I've held onto it." 

Tony couldn't have heard that right.

"You're..?" He started, but Steve waved him off.

"This? This is nice. A bit much, but I guess I shouldn't expect anything less." his hand wrapped tighter around Tony's waist, pulling him fully against his own body, waist to waist, chest to chest. 

Tony didn't say anything for a while, letting their bodies rock to a silent rhythm as his head cleared, wishing he'd thought to bring music. It felt like hours they stood there, bare feet brushing against the petals, Tony burrowing further into Steve for warmth before he finally said,

"I'm in love with you." Saying it out loud wasn't nearly as bad as he thought it might be. He pulled away from Steve just enough to see his reaction, which was a low, small laugh.

"I know," he said, gesturing to the room surrounding them. Tony scowled.

"Yeah, but... you kinda stole my moment, Rogers." He said, and that earned him a grin.

"There'll be other moments." There was a glint in Steve's eyes he couldn't quite place, but loved the way 

He thought about that a minute, fingers crawling up Steve's arm and into his hair, idly combing through it before finally working up to nerve to pull him down against his lips, kissing him softly, but urgently. Steve hesitated only a moment before kissing him back, harder, dizzying Tony. They only stopped when they were both smiling too hard to do anything else. 

Tony was content like this, could be happy like this, for a really long time. If Steve let him.

"Happy Valentine's Day," He said, any other important words lost in his daze. 

"Happy Valentine's Day, Tony." Steve replied, reaching down to kiss him again.


End file.
